November 21, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Regional Economic Integration Not Good For Somalia, Claims Former President
21 November – Source: 252Politics – 199 Words
The immediate former President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has strongly criticized the ongoing regional economic and political integration process involving Mogadishu, Asmara and Addis Ababa.
He warned that President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo’s government against the move claiming it was not in best interest of the nation: “We cannot talk about political and economic integration with Ethiopia at the moment because our institutions are still weak. Let us first wait until we have strong government before committing ourselves to such an undertaking,” he said,
The former President advised the government to rethink the regional economic cooperation agreement adding that opening the borders in the name of business was imprudent: “We can talk about how we can do business together but opening the borders and free movement need caution,” he said.
Sheikh Mohamud is currently in Kismayo, in the Jubbaland state, to market his new political outfit, Union for Peace and Development (UPD) ahead of the 2020 presidential elections. He urged the Farmaajo administration government not to exaggerate the country’s economic growth saying the economic progress started in 2013 during his tenure as President. Sheikh Mohamud is currently on a tour of the regions across Somalia.
Key Headlines
- Regional Economic Integration Not Good For Somalia Claims Former President (252Politics)
- ICRC Staff German Citizen Abducted In Somalia Rescued Last Night (Mustaqbal Media)
- President Farmaajo: Somalia And Italy Have A Strong Historical Foundation For Modern Partnership (Halbeeg News)
- Gunmen Kidnap Italian Volunteer Shoot Children Near Kenya’s Coast (Reuters)
- Border Opening To Spur Somali Trade (The Standard)
- Stripped Of The Last Coin By Smugglers Affected Families In Somaliland Now Reduced To Beggars (Radio Ergo)
NATIONAL MEDIA
ICRC Staff, German Citizen Abducted In Somalia Rescued Last Night
21 November – Source: Mustaqbal Media – 155 Words
Reports from Galgudug region in Galmudug state, claim Somalia’s Special Forces have rescued Sonja Nientiet, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) staff and German nurse, who was abducted in the Mogadishu capital on May 2nd 2018.
Sources told Mustaqbal Radio that Ms. Nientiet’s abductors held her in a secret location in Galgudud region all this while. Sources in the Special Forces confirmed to Mustaqbal Radio, that they had finally rescued the German nurse and will return her back to Mogadishu in the next few hours.
Ms. Nientiet was abducted on a Wednesday 2nd May 2018, in what local security officials believe was an inside job involving at least one of the personnel guarding the ICRC compound. Police and the ICRC said in a statement, that the abduction occurred around 8 pm (1700 GMT). The German has worked for the ICRC since 2014 in conflict zones, including Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
President Farmaajo: Somalia And Italy Have A Strong Historical Foundation For Modern Partnership
21 November – Source: Halbeeg News – 237 Words
President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, who is in a three day state visit to Italy, has held discussions with the Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, in Rome. The two leaders discussed on a wide range issues of mutual interest to the two nations, including strengthening bilateral ties between Somalia and Italy.
The President, through a tweet, expressed satisfaction over the meeting: “Honoured to have held fruitful discussions with PM @guiseppeConteIT in Rome today on strengthening our two sides bilateral ties. Somalia and Italy have a strong historical foundation for modern partnership in all areas of common progress that we seek to cement further”
President Farmaajo also held a similar meeting with his counterpart, Sergio Matterella, the Italian President. Italy, a former colonizer of Somalia, is one of the few European countries that has for over two decades supported the recovery process of Somalia. It offers military and monetary support to the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS).
Through the Somali Infrastructure Fund (SIF), the two governments agreed to jointly implement the projects in Somalia. SIF is a Multi-Partner Fund with the overall goal of supporting Somalia to rebuild institutions, rehabilitate key infrastructure and reinforce economic governance. The SIF, which is administered by the African Development Bank, aims to contribute to the efforts of Somalia and its development partners to consolidate peace, establish the basic institutions of a functioning state, and to accelerate inclusive and sustainable economic recovery and development.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Gunmen Kidnap Italian Volunteer, Shoot Children Near Kenya’s Coast
21 November – Source: Reuters – 345 Words
Gunmen kidnapped an Italian volunteer in southeast Kenya and shot five people late on Tuesday, police said, in the first abduction of a foreigner in Kenya since a series of raids blamed on Somali Islamist militants six years ago.
Men armed with AK-47 rifles attacked the town of Chakama and seized the 23-year-old woman who was working for the small Italian charity Africa Milele Onlus, the National Police Service added. The attackers spoke Somali and opened fire on people fleeing the scene, witness Chad Joshua Kazungu told Reuters by phone. “There were three attackers and they targeted the Italian lady,” he said.
Five people were wounded, including a 10-year-old shot in the eye and a 12-year-old hit in the thigh, police said. They were all taken to hospital. Chakama in Kenya’s Kilifi region is 60 km (40 miles) inland from the bustling coastal tourist resort on Malindi. Police said they had still not identified the attackers and their motives were unclear.
Tourist numbers and earnings plunged sharply from 2012 to 2016 as militants from the Al Shabaab group in neighboring Somalia launched a series of attacks on Kenyan soil in retaliation for Kenya’s military intervention in Somalia. A number of foreigners were kidnapped on the coast in 2011 and 2012 but not none has been abducted since.
Border Opening To Spur Somali Trade
21 November – Source: The Standard – 542 Words
The once vibrant Kenya-Somalia border point in Mandera town that has remained closed for several years could soon be reopened. This follows improved security brought about by the ongoing construction of a border wall that has covered nearly 20 km since the work started in 2015.
A security team led by parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Affairs chair Katoo ole Metito and Defence Principal Secretary Torome Saitoti recently inspected the completed stretch of the fence. They were accompanied by senior army officials, including the Vice-Chief of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Lieutenant General Robert Kibochi. The tour was marked by rare heavy security that brought Mandera town to a near standstill as the convoy, which included a tank and armoured vehicles, moved from the airstrip to the county headquarters before crawling through the town to River Dawa.
Briefing the team on the prevailing security situation, Mandera Deputy Governor Mohamed Arai said no Al Shabaab attack had occurred in the town for the past three years, an improvement he attributed to the security barrier that is expected to stretch more than 50km. “Mandera town used to suffer regular attacks and our governor was a prime target. But all that is now in the past,” said Mr Arai who represented Governor Ali Roba during the inspection tour. Your opinion is valuable.
Arai noted that the opening of the border point would regularise trade between the two countries, which was currently dominated by sub-standard goods trafficked in by smugglers. “Goods of questionable standards being smuggled into Kenya from the port of Kismayu include sugar, rice, spaghetti, cooking oil and petroleum products,” said Arai. He said the county was losing an average of Sh2 billion each month, and the country much more money, due to the closure of the border.
Mr Metito said his committee would push for the reopening of the border as soon as possible, but cautioned residents against complacency over their security. “Your security starts with you and the fence can only be effective if the people cooperate on security issues such as reporting suspicious characters to the authorities,” he stated. He called on the two countries to speedily resolve the diplomatic fallout that temporarily halted construction at Bulahawa where Somalis settlements spill into Kenya. “We want that diplomatic impasse sorted out so that the gap left can be sealed to further bolster security.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Without thinking about the consequences, youths from poor families make these journeys and fall victim to human traffickers, forcing parents to beg or seek loans to save their children.”
Stripped Of The Last Coin By Smugglers, Affected Families In Somaliland Now Reduced To Beggars
20 November – Source: Radio Ergo – 719 Words
Anab Arab Jibril is one of a growing number of Somaliland parents suffering the financial and emotional burden of trying to free their migrant children from the hands of human traffickers in Libya. Anab, a mother of six whose 17-year-old daughter made the risky journey to Libya last year,has been reduced to begging in the streets to try to pay off the ransom demands for her daughter’s release. Three months ago, she sent $3,000 that she had begged and borrowed. But she is still waiting day and night to hear what her daughter’s fate will be.
“My daughter has been held hostage by smugglers on different occasions,” Anab explained to Radio Ergo. “The first time my daughter was tortured and her hand broken. I was informed that the men wanted$8,000 ransom. I sold my piece of land and paid the amount,” recounted Anab,a simple woman who earns her living selling cakes in Burao town.
Anab sold her piece of land to pay the ransom earlier this year, but the smugglers’ demands did not end there. Her daughter was released and then fell into the hands of another group, who demanded a fresh ransom. This time, Anab had nothing to sell and no savings to meet the new demand, so she started begging in the local markets to raise funds. “My daughter was held hostage again. This time they demanded $1,000 in ransom and $2,000 for boat fees. I started begging in Burao market. Luckily, I paid the money once again after I managed to raise$1,000 from begging and borrowed another $2,000 from relatives,” she said.
Anab said she had last heard that her daughter and other migrants set sail in a boat heading towards Europe, but the boat was turned backed to Libya. Now she is caught between struggling to pay off debts and agonizing over her daughter’s life and safety. Abdirahman Farah Ali is another parent whose life has been taken over by the financial and emotional pressures of trying to save a child. His son, Zakariye, 17, left Burao in March 2017, planning to travel onwards to Europe.
According to Abdirahman, Zakariye travelled by boat to Yemen before crossing into Sudan. After a month later Abdirahman received the first call from Zakariye from Yemen,informing the family that he was on his way to Europe” “We did not know where he was and were so worried but on 27 April he finally called us from Yemen. He told us that he needed$1,000 to get to Libya. We mobilized for the money and sent it to him,” said Abdirahman, who works as a broker in Burao livestock market. However, on reaching Libya, Zakariye fell into the hands of the smugglers.
TOP TWEETS
@Halbeeg_News: Somalia marks national teachers dayhttps://en.halbeeg.com/2018/
@AyubIsmailYusuf: The Finance Committee must work closely with @MofSomalia & @DrBeileh to move #Somalia forward financially. They have a responsibility to report AND to shape reforms too. Our people need fiscal reforms to have a better future. We must all work together on this as a priority.
@M_Farmaajo: Honoured to have held fruitful discussions with PM @guiseppeConteIT in Rome today on strengthening our two sides bilateral ties. Somalia and Italy have a strong historical foundation for modern partnership in all areas of common progress that we seek to cement further.
@Halbeeg_News: President Farmajo: Somalia and Italy have a strong historical foundation for modern partnershiphttps://en.halbeeg.com/2018/
@MofSomalia: Domestic revenue collection of the Federal#Government in #Somalia is performing well.
@taakulosom: MoreMFA of Netherland and Netherland Embassy in kenya have wonderful discussion with Aid workers , about resilience , challenges and opportunities for Somaliland.@NLinKenya @DFID_UK @DutchRelief@DanishMFA @CISUdk @UKinSomalia
@engyarisow: MoreAs part of our community engagement plan residents of Warta Nabadda District in #Mogadishu held a public event where young people showed their talents of Arts & other sports activities such as weight lifting competition.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in Rome, Italy.
Photo: @M_Farmaajo